The 11th Commandment
The 11th Commandment
Such was the title of a children’s story my own children listened to countless times when they were small. It was about a family who were waiting for a guest pastor to arrive, and stay with them over Saturday night, before his visit to their church the next day. The parents were annoyed when a violent storm brought a stranger to their door, whose car had broken down nearby. They let him in most reluctantly, as they had only room for one guest – the pastor. This man was ragged and unkempt, and appeared ignorant of the basics of Bible truth. The parents were suspicious of him, wondering if their two young children were safe with him in their home overnight. The next morning, they were surprised, offended, and embarrassed during church, to see the stranger walk up the aisle and right up on the platform. Imagine their mortification when he announced himself as the guest preacher!
The story ends well, of course, being a children’s story. Its purpose was to illustrate the “new commandment” Jesus gave us, in John 13:34-35…
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
And in Matthew 22:37-40…
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
As is evident from Matthew, this wasn’t really a new commandment, but was a summary of the 10 Commandments given in Exodus 20. The first four of the ten speak of how we are to love God, and the rest speak of how we are to love our fellow man.
A New 11th Commandment
Today, we have a new 11th commandment.
“Thou shalt be nice!”
The other side of the “be nice” coin is another cry we hear so often today.
“Judge not!”
Most people who say that have no idea what it actually means. It comes from the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:1. But as too often happens, the verse is lifted out of its context, and is given an entirely new meaning. Contrary to what most people think in these days of social justice, this verse is not telling us never to judge. We make judgment calls all the time. It’s a normal and necessary part of life. And those judgment calls often include discerning between truth and error; obedience and sin; in short, between right and wrong.
Friends, this is only one example of countless twistings of scripture and of biblical truths we encounter these days. It is vitally important that we don’t get sucked into the world’s ideologies, but stand firm on the Word of God.
For a little longer, more comprehensive explanation of just what this verse means, this sermon by R.C. Sproul is excellent. It’s the same verse, only in Luke’s gospel.